Talk:Disk encryption software

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[edit] Rules for the Cross-Platform section

A program can be included in the Cross-Platform section only if it runs on more than one operating system. If it is a Windows-only program (such as CrossCrypt or FreeOTFE) that can mount a cross-platform format or a format used on an operating system other than the native for the program then it's still a Windows-only program. Similarly, if a graphics editor runs only on Windows, then it's still a Windows-only program even though it can load/save the png format (which is a cross-platform format). The mere ability to load/save a cross-platform format does not make the program cross-platform. Maxt 18:36, 7 March 2006 (UTC)Maxt

Ah... Thankyou for giving your opinion as a "rule"; Wikipedia operates by consensus - not by one person who just "lays down the law". wrt the change I just reverted - it does look like a version of FreeOTFE was released for the PocketPC about a month ago, making it a cross platform system; see wikipedia Platform (computing) for what a platform is. Cralar 21:18, 11 December 2006 (UTC)
Looks like there's a misunderstanding here. Maxt's assertion above, that legacy support for other volume formats does not make a disk encryption suite "cross-platform" if the same program itself does not run on other platforms, entirely reasonable. At least as far as I understood it, this had nothing to do with the revert – rather, the revert is a question of whether Windows on PC and Windows Mobile on PocketPC (that FreeOTFE4PDA runs on) can be considered different platforms. -- intgr 21:55, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Links to commercial software

IIRC, it is not allowed to insert links to commercial software that has not "significantly affected the history of mankind" to Wikipedia content. It is considered spam. Am I right? Maxt 19:03, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

Good question, and one that I'm not sure I know the answer to. Wikipedia:External_links doesn't really help much, stating only that "Links that are added to promote a site" shouldn't be included. In honesty, I don't think we should differentiate between commercial and free software in making a decision, and should treat them both equitably. Personally I'm not a huge fan of WP articles which are predominately links to other sites. --Boxflux 21:43, 4 March 2006 (UTC)
Attached the 'possible spam' notice. The notice contains a link to the official guidelines for posting External links, which states that a link must not be included if the linked site "primarily exists to sell products or services". So I was right, and all links to the commercial software (their sites) should be removed. Maxt 14:33, 20 May 2006 (UTC)Maxt
I don't believe the policy is intended to exclude informative, germane links. A link to eBay from Lungfish would be spam; a link from eBay is not. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 72.12.206.226 (talk • contribs) 10:45, 9 July 2006 (UTC).
Sorry, didn't see that you'd added a comment here when I put mine below. I don't like these 'lists of...' pages on WP which just link to external sites. They are a pain to keep up-to-date and accurate, and they just attract link spammers as you note. I think we should remove all links to external sites - if a program (Windows or Unix) doesn't have a mention on WP then it's probably not notable enough to fall under the banner of "common". --Boxflux 15:52, 21 May 2006 (UTC)
Some data points - List_of_bitmap_graphics_editors as an example contains only internal links vs. List_of_vector_graphics_editors which contains a internal link (valid or not) followed by a relevant external link.
The reason I moved the {{spam}} tag to the top of the section was because it occurred to me that a link-spammer could add a link to any of the 3 sections, not just the Windows one. The whole section of links is potentially likely to be spam, but I'll leave it where it is for the time being. --Boxflux 15:58, 21 May 2006 (UTC)
Ok, I removed all links to commercial software. I left BitLocker Drive Encryption and PGPDisk there. The former has a Wiki entry and its impact may be significant (a reason to keep it?). Older versions of PGPDisk are free, so it could stay there. Maxt 18:24, 22 May 2006 (UTC)Maxt
I like the changes you've made. I'm tempted to say we could go further and remove some of the other links (quote: "which is no longer being developed" and "now considered deprecated" probably mean they don't fall under the heading "common"?). I don't have time to go through all the entries right now, but I'll try to do so tomorrow and see if there are any others we can remove, and hopefully then get rid of the {{spam}} tag too. --Boxflux 08:16, 23 May 2006 (UTC)
Yes, the term "common" does not match deprecated software. Also see my comment on this matter here on this Talk page, entitled "Common disk encryption software". Deprecated software nontheless played some role in the past. Isn't Wikipedia about history too? I'm not sure if obsolence is a reason for complete removal from this article. Maxt 11:18, 23 May 2006 (UTC)Maxt
I've changed "common" to "notable" (for several reasons), but I also removed the abandoned and deprecated software (except for Cryptoloop and CrossCrypt, largely to highlight that they are deprecated). If you want to write the history of drive encryption software, be my guest, but I think that should go in its own section. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 72.12.206.226 (talk • contribs) 10:45, 9 July 2006 (UTC).


I do not think that all external links to software should be removed simply because it happens to be sold and isn't open source, free or some variant. Such a stance is most likely a political one and a printed encyclopedia would not limit itself to referencing only items which are "free". It is one thing to include a link to the ecommerce "buy it now” or marketing guano, but not all external links to commercial software fall into that category. An encyclopedia article would be biased and less useful to the reader if it did not treat Free Software and commercial software with the same brush. Rearden9 04:36, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] "Common disk encryption software"

How do we define "common" in this context? If it means widely used, then only TrueCrypt, PGP, FileVault and dmcrypt could stay there. The other listed pieces of sotware are rather obscure or spam.Maxt 17:48, 20 May 2006 (UTC)Maxt

[edit] WinEncrypt

Also considering adding WinEncrypt which is closed source and free.

I wouldn't be so happy about just adding some closed source encryption software. I looked on the WinEncrypt page trying to find some documentation about what encryption was used. I only found the names of two block ciphers, but nowhere did it mention what mode was used. And only a very restricted version of the software is free. Kasperd 10:16, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] CrossCrypt

The CrossCrypt article give the impression, that the software can be used on both Windows and Linux. So either this article is wrong or the CrossCrypt article is wrong. Which is it? 17:17, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

The CrossCrypt article was indeed incorrect. Fixed. CrossCrypt runs only on Windows. It is compatible with a Linux format, but it does not run on Linux. In the Cross-Platform category, only programs that run on more than one operating system shall be included. To illustrate: if a graphics editor runs only on Windows, then it's still a Windows-only program even though it can load/save the png format (which is a cross-platform format). Maxt 18:32, 7 March 2006 (UTC)Maxt

[edit] External links

I just noticed a link to the "Inside NetBSD's CGD" article was added. What kinds of external links should this article have? Maybe also a link to the GBDE article on either http://phk.freebsd.dk/pubs/ or http://www.usenix.org/publications/library/proceedings/bsdcon03/tech/kamp.html? Kasperd 21:49, 28 December 2005 (UTC)


A great how to for dm-crypt [1]

[edit] Suggestion for list of software

I'm not sure I like the huge list of software at the bottom of this article, and, as other editors above have noted, it could be seen as link spam. My suggestion for the large list of links - to keep it in line with Wikipedia's policy - is that we should only link to products which have a page on WP, and avoid linking to external sites at all. Thoughts? --Boxflux 19:47, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

I'm not sure why you are starting a new section here. I started discussion about this already -- see the section 'Links to commercial software' above.Maxt 08:18, 21 May 2006 (UTC)Maxt

[edit] Volume-level encryption software

There is a great difference in functionality if the software can encrypt the booting volume, perhaps this can be lifted forward in some way? --87.227.23.114 00:32, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

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